Now Playing: September 2020
From Guy Fieri to K-Pop, our September issue contributors have some amazing recommendations for you in the September edition of Now Playing.
Rui-Yang Peng
“There’s nothing like a good dance-your-heart-out to momentarily shrug off quarantine anxieties, and I’ve been having many recently to Itzy’s new comeback album, ‘Not Shy.’ September means back-to-school and the reappearance of dreaded language class discussions, and in preparation for class I always blast ‘Not Shy’ and try to impersonate the confident Itzy members. There’s something very magnetizing yet ironic about kpop girl bands— known for their high octane conveyal of female empowerment, behind the scenes they are also a prime example of materialism and consumerism gone to extreme (and in the occasional music video, draw criticism for promoting cultural appropriation). In its ‘Letters to Midzy’ video, Itzy members reveal the self-doubt and feelings of imposter syndrome they face day-to-day and there’s something very intimate about seeing celebrities share their vulnerabilities that makes me feel a little less alone in this era of screens and physical distancing. I am waiting for the day when Itzy’s employer finally gives the girls free reign to be creative in their music and shine as soloists— for Lia to belt in her beautiful husky voice, for Yeji to bust her moves out of the confines of a group...”
Jason R. Montgomery
“Last thing I listened to/played? I am literally listening to Mal Blum's ‘Fine!’ right now as I write this. I hadn't ever heard it before literally this second, but I gotta say, I think I'm a fan. It popped up on my ‘Discover Weekly’ Spotify playlist, which I love because it feels like a friend of a friend of a friend making you a mixtape after getting high together in your dad's car. Feels like a little bit of beauty handed to you for no real reason...of course until you realize that it is an algorithm for an app you pay for...ugh...that's a bummer. I never want to be young again, but it would be nice if that magic was just kind of out there and just being sold back to me.”
David Byron Queen
"If I’m being honest, the thing I’ve been watching the most lately is Guy’s Grocery Games on the Food Network. It’s a pretty entertaining show—Guy Fieri invites chefs to come to his grocery store for a cooking competition, and then throws a bunch of wacky challenges their way. Usually, it’s all about placing restrictions on what ingredients they can use, or having them incorporate a certain ingredient they weren’t expecting. As I’ve watched, it’s made me think a lot about the writing process and the idea that using arbitrary/chance-based restrictions can often lead to new creative solutions. I recently led a workshop where I got to live out my triple-G dreams, and had the students write a story without using the letter ‘E.’ The results were amazing. Not just the stories themselves, but in learning how a one letter restriction got them to think differently about word choice. Long live the Mayor of Flavortown."
Cree N. Pettaway
“The sound of my three nieces saying, ‘Tee-tee Cree, Tee-tee Cree,’ is the record that has looped in my head all summer long. The beauty of this phrase, which comes out as a question or call to action, has a statement following that beguiles and bewilders me. ‘Tee-tee Cree, can you sit in the bathroom with me while I potty?’ ‘Tee-tee Cree, I had a dream I was at your house and there was an earthquake and the house was shaking and cracking.’ ‘Tee-tee Cree, that’s not very nice.’ ‘Tee-tee Cree, where are you? Why aren’t you at your house?’ After time spent baking, having sing-a-longs, making stove-top s’mores, and bubblebaths with bubblegum scented Peppa Pig bath wash, ‘Tee-tee Cree’ is the single most comforting and exhausting echo.”
Jahan Khajavi
“The thing I have been listening to, the one album that peaks up & peeks out over everything else, is the Rubaiyat of Dorothy Ashby. Jazz-harping black lady genius reworking Uncle Omar's classical Persian poems!”